Week 21 and 22

The Power of Partner Workouts

 

Aw, partner workouts. Once my favorite kind of WOD, now they are terrifying. My gym recently declared Saturdays as "Partner Workout Days." They used to have three different time slots and now combined them into one, with the intention to have larger, more energetic class times. I am so grateful they did this because I love getting to see the PM gym goers. Working out with more people is why I love this sport so much and it is more encouraging to see so many faces on a Saturday.

 

In saying that, they program partner workouts every Saturday. As I mentioned before, I used to love them. I loved getting pushed by my partner to work harder, faster and heavier. They terrify me now for a few reasons:

 

1. I don't want to hold anyone back

 

I hate the feeling of being the weakest link. We have some great girls in our box who I know I could keep up with before, but now they get paired with me and I can see them dying a little inside. I can't do some movements, some I have to scale, and others I am just slow. Then they have their friends in there kicking butt, and I can tell it is hard for them to get beat and I know it is because of me. It is also frustrating for me when I have to do a movement and they have to hold a plank or something until I am finished with my movement, I know they are cursing me under their breath. They don't seem to complain as much when I take too long if they get a rest in between!

 

2. I don't want anyone to hold me back

 

Sometimes it happens where my abilities are underrated (usually while visiting a gym) because of my belly and I get put with a beginner. I have no problem helping and teaching and I understand the need for patience. Trust me, I was a beginner once too. There are times I have to use the same weight as my partner and a lot of beginners aren't comfortable lifting as much as I am. So in the end I don't think I put my best foot forward in a workout and it feels like a waste.  This situation does not happen very often and when it comes down to it, I just remind myself that I am still getting a workout in, regardless if I felt like I pushed myself to the max or not. Maybe sometimes it is ok to go a little slower and a little lighter!

 

3. I worry about pushing myself too much

 

This goes back to reason #1. If I am working out by myself,  I know my limits and where to stop. In a partner workout, sometimes I can catch myself pushing too hard in order to keep up or go faster so my partner doesn't have to suffer. I feel terrible asking for a break because I don't want to affect their scores or their workout. This is the reason for partner WODs, so that you will push yourself more than you would in a solo workout. However, this can leave room for injury to me or to the babe if I go too far beyond my comfort zone.

 

 

The partners I have had recently have been great. They don't act too bothered by me being slower and I feel like they understand what they are getting into when they are paired up with me. I have worked out with pregnant girls before I was pregnant myself, and I remember how amazed I was at what they were able to accomplish. I hope the girls at my gym see the same in me! I am looking forward to post-pregnancy, letting Joshua play daddy for a few hours, and showing my gym partners what I can actually do!

 

 

 

Note: I am not a week behind in posting. Well, technically I am, but according to Baby, I am not. The doctors pushed my due date back a week so I am doing "Week 22" all over again! His new due date is 8.25.15. Save the date!

 

 

 

Week 20 - How Pregnancy Benefits a WOD

As you know, this is a bi-monthly blog. But, I thought for my half way point, I could do a bonus one.

Looking back at the past 8 posts, I realized there is a lot of bitching that happens. "I can't do HSPU" "I can't run as fast" "My endurance has taken a toll" and so on... I also complain that sometimes the sub for particular movements is harder than the programmed movement. So for this post, I want to talk about the BEST parts about being pregnant and doing Crossfit.

How Pregnancy has been a Crossfit Blessing

Push-Ups
Because of my ever growing chest, push-ups have become much easier. And now that my belly is surpassing my boobs, it is making push-ups even easier! Other moves such as chest-to-bar and burpee dead lifts have also become easier. I don't have to go down NEAR as far to make sure my "chest hits the ground." Haha, suckers.

Burpees
Burpees have not become easier, but in the past 3 weeks or so my coach requested I just do "up-downs" for the remainder of the pregnancy. You don't have to tell me twice! Now I can fly through burpee workouts which speeds up my time and makes me look really awesome. I told a guy the other day "See, if you would just get knocked up, this workout could have been much easier for you."

Any sort of AMRAP
Please don't get me wrong, I still push myself every single day. However, when I hear "As many rounds as possible" I smile a little inside. I know that I wont be finishing last in anything which is really encouraging. If I need a little break, I can take a break and still finish with the rest of the group.

GHD Machines
I don't have to use these terrible ab-ripping, glute-blasting ponies at the moment. I don't do sit-ups anymore either, but sometimes the sub for sit-ups is harder than sit-ups. (Toes to Bar for example) But GHDs were never a strength of mine so any substitution is a great one. Thanks baby!

Weighted Jump Squats
I pride myself on making it to the gym an average of 4 days a week. However, some movements I just look at and think, "That's not necessary right now." When there are weighted jump squats, really jump squats in general, I will scale them with goblet or air squats, depending on how I feel. It really saves the hammies and helps me get through the rest of the WOD.

Box Jumps
Now that falling and losing my balance has become a fear, I do step-ups if the box jump count is high. Sometime we have EMOMs where we are only required to do 3 jumps, so I will still jump then. But if the count is 15-20 box jumps, I will do step-ups instead. Step-ups are great because you can get in a rhythmic pattern and you don't need any breathers in between. So just like burpees, I can zip through them and look speedy fast!

Post-Workout Snacks
Who needs a plate when you have a belly to hold food for you? Seems a little sloppy, I know. But at 6:00 AM when you're hungry and need to give your legs a break, there is nothing better than refueling and not having to do dishes after!

People love to joke about me being stronger because I have "4 hands" or that its not fair because "I have a partner to help me." I like to snap back and express that my partner is worthless and just eats while I do all the heavy lifting. In reality, I have the best workout partner ever.  Everything I do now, I do thinking of him. Though it is hard lugging around extra pounds during the WOD, I know he is benefitting from it with every step, hop and lift. Baby boy Harper can be whatever he wants to be, as long as he is happy that is all that matters. However, I am hoping all the work I am putting in now will lead to his active and healthy lifestyle!

Week 18 and 19

 

Changes. Changes. Changes.

 

The first and most OBVIOUS change is the shape of my belly. If you check out the pictures below, you will see I am really showing now! I woke up one morning and BAM! Baby bump. It was pretty cool.

 

The second change is the knowledge the world now holds and that is... IT'S A BOY! Joshua and I are very excited for this sweet little man to grace us with his presence in August. Yes, I have already registered for baby kettle bells and onesies that say "I get my muscles from my mom" and "I would flex, but I like this onesie."

 

 

Now onto Crossfit...

 

So much happened these past 2 weeks! 2 Open workouts, I went to Chicago and visited North River Crossfit downtown and a jump rope clinic. So much fun!

 

Well the open is completed and that is always a bitter sweet time. No more waiting by my computer at 4:45 anxiously waiting for the Open announcement. No more cursing at Dave Castro, a man I have never met, but seem to have an unnecessary grudge against. And no more Crossfit friends coming from across the country to brag/bitch about their times and scores.

 

15.4

A workout like 15.4 is something pre-pregnant Paige typically loves. As you know, I love handstand push-ups. I wouldn't have been able to get through the heavy cleans, but my "gym-nasty"ness would have given me a decent score. I haven't felt comfortable doing hand-stand push ups lately. I am about to do about 5 and I go find a way to scale them. So instead, I did the scaled version of 10 power cleans and 10 push presses. I went pretty light, I think 45# and 55#, but got through 7 rounds and 5 cleans. I was more winded than anything so I had to take a few breaks to catch my breath.

 

 

15.5

15.5 was another joy in itself. I have recently learned to quit hating rowing because I figured I am going to have to do a lot of it in the near future. I learned to become more efficient with stronger pulls and a tighter core. Have you ever watched a "good" rower vs. a "bad" rower? It isn't about speed as much as it is their pulling strength. But man, that workout smoked my legs. I did the crossfitmom.com workout and did 21-15-9... right after, I looked at the clock and was like, "eh, I'm already here. I am going to do the other 27." So I finished the other 27 at the end of the workout. I went light again, only 35# on the thrusters. I probably should have done 45#, but I was tired and I didn't want to so quit judging me.

 

Chicago

Chicago was an absolute blast. I would love to go during the warmer months, not pregnant, and go enjoy it with my husband. The cold wasn't very motivating when it came to exploring that charming city. However, I did get to do what I love, and that is visit a Crossfit gym! North River Crossfit was about a mile from my hotel so I took a taxi (like I said, it was freezing) and headed down there for a 7:00 AM WOD. I took my own advice (see week 15 and 16) and e-mailed the gym before to be sure they had experience with pregnant athletes. They were quick to respond and extremely friendly. I looked forward to it all week.

 

I walked in and their front desk guy was extremely nice. The coaches came right up and greeted themselves. We did some from squats and the WOD was 4 rounds of 20 Cal row, 10 thrusters (M95#/W65#) and 10 lateral burpees with a minute rest in between. Kinda looks like 15.5! I wasn't feeling very strong so I dropped to 35# and did up-downs. The coaches were encouraging, but not too pushy. I really had a great time and suggest you visit that gym if you are in the area!

 

 

Jump Rope Clinic

And finally, I went to a double under clinic that we had at our gym. It was extremely helpful, up until we started jump roping and I had some round ligament pain. It was awful. I kept trying to push through it, but I had to stop myself and remind myself to "listen to my body." It really sucked. I have slowed down in workouts, or skipped a minute during an EMOM, but never have I just had to STOP moving. Whatever I was doing was too much for the babe and my body told me to stop. So I sat and listened to the remainder of the clinic with my arms crossed and a pouty face.  I was not a good sport about it!

 

 

 

Enjoy the pictures below. Joshua and I got a kick out of how much I changed in a week. I didn't see him for 3 days when I went to Chicago and when he picked me up at the airport, all he could say was "Heyyyy Preggo!" I guess he noticed a difference too!